James a



(No Model.)

A. WALKER.

GAR GOUPLING.

Patented Nov. 14, 188 2.

N. PETERS, Into-Lithographer, Washington 11. c

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES A. \VALKER, OF GALESBURG, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO CLARKE. CARE, OF SAME PLACE.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 267,621, dated November14, 1882.

- Application filed July 31,1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES A. WALKER,a citizen of the United States,-residing at Gales- Y burg, in thecounty of Knox and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCar-Couplin gs; and I. do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to'which it ap- IO pertains to make and usethe same.

This invention relates to railway-oar couplings; and it consists incombinations and constructions hereinafter described, and set forth inthe claims hereto annexed.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate my invention, Figure 1 isa top plan. Fig. 2 is also a top plan, with the parts in differentrelative positions from that shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a plan seen frombelow; Fig. 4, an enlarged sectional elevation in line a: m in Fig. 1;Fig. 5, a detail-a side elevation of the draw-head alone. Fig. 6 is aperspective of the draw-head alone.

Referring to the drawings by letters, the same letter indicating thesame part in the different figures, letter A represents a portion of thebottom of a car, which may be of any desired construction, with acentral recess, a, and

side portions or bumpers, a, which project forward of the rear wall, a,of the recess a. The wall a should preferably be in about same verticalplane as the front end, a, of the car.

B is the draw-head, which may be attached to the car in any ordinary ordesired manner, with its forward end in about the same vertical plane asthe forward ends of the bumpers a. The forward end of the draw-head isenlarged laterally, and each side of the enlarged portion is formed asshown-that is, convex in 0 its longitudinal horizontal section and alsoconvex in its transverse section-and preferably with its lower sidesomewhat narrower than its upper side.

i U G arejaws pivoted one to each side of the 5 draw-head B by a bolt,1), which passes horizontally through a slot, 0, in each jaw, and

through a hole in the draw-head. The side of each jaw O O is concavewhere it rests against the adjacent side of the draw-head. The jaw 0 isdart-shaped at its forward end,,and the jaw C has a hook or shoulderedcatch, 0, on

its forward end and side, confronting the jaw C. When thejaws G G aredrawn forward, as permitted by their slots moving on the bolt D, theircurved sides at 0 will be forced into con- 5 tact with the rear portionsrespectively of the convexed sides of the draw-head by means of theouter sides of-the jaws O 0 coming in contact with the pins d in thebolt D, and the front ends of the jaws be thereby forced over and heldnear to each other, as shown at Fig.

1. When the jaws 0O are pushed backward,

as shown by full lines at Fig. 2, the rear ends of said jaws will befree from the draw-head,

so as to permit separating the front ends of 6 thejaws, as shown bydotted lines at Fig. 2.

In addition to the movements of thejaws O O, hereinbefore described,they may also be swung or turned upwardly on the bolt D as a' fulcrum,as shown by dotted lines at Fig. 4.. In turning thejaws downwardly fromthe position last described the springs e-one between the rear end ofeach jaw and the draw-headwill force the rear ends of thejaws outwardlyand their forward ends toward each other.

F is a rod or shaft extending transversely across the bottom of the car,and is journaled in suitable bearings,f, so that it can be rocked oroscillated on its longitudinal axis by a crank, f, at either or both ofits ends. An arm, 9,

extends forwardly from the shaft F over each jaw G O, and by turning thecrankf forwardly these arms will force said jaws downwardly and intotheir horizontal positions, asshown by full lines at Fig. 4. Arms gproject rearwardly from the shaft F and act upon the rear ends ofthejaws G U, and thereby turn or swing the jaws O C upwardly, as shownby dotted lines at Fig. 4, when the crank f is turned in an oppositedirection to that last described. The movements of the jaws O Udownwardly at their forward ends are limited by their rear ends comingin contact with the shaft F, and their upward movements are limited bytheir forward ends coming in contact with the rear 5 wall of the recessa or the arms g, which come between the jaws and said wall. -Anysuitable stop or catch may be placed on the shaft F to retain the jaws OO in their elevated positions. When the jaws U 0 are in their horizontalpor00 sitions they will couple two cars when brought together, as shownat Fig. 1, and when draftpower is applied to either car it will draw thejaws outwardly lengthwise and tighten and secure the couplings, ashereinbefore described.

The shaft F may be turned to swing thejaws O O upwardly on either car,as hereinbefore described, to uncouple the cars. In coupling, the jawswill be forced rearwardly,so they may separate at their forward ends,and the springs e will hold them sufficiently to prevent uncouplinguntil thejaws are drawn outwardly by the movementof the cars, and thecoupling thereby securely fixed, as hereinbefore described.

It will be seen that in case either car should leave'the track, shouldfall through a bridge, or be thrown from the track and turn over, thecouplings will at once be separated. By nsingjaws G C of considerablethickness vertically they are adapted to couple cars of differentheights.

The shaft F may be made to operate the jaws O O in a difi'e'rent mannerfrom what I have shown, and may be operated from a rod extending to thetop of the car.

Each draw-head is constructed with a recess in its front end, similar tothe ordinary drawhead,whereby an ordinarylink and pin,h, may be used toeffect a coupling, when desired, by simply turning the jaws 0 G intotheir vertical positions and out of the way.

In coupling, the bumpers a will come in contact and prevent injury toother parts, and these bumpers may be constructed as shown, or they maybe formed of projecting springbars or spring-bumpers.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a car-coupling, in combination with draw head or bar, jaws pivotedto said drawbar, whereby they may swing both outwardly and upwardly attheir forward ends, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. In a car-coupling, in combination with the draw-bar, coupling-jawsadapted to couple at their front ends and to swing outwardly andupwardly, substantially as and-for the purpose specified.

3. In a car-coupling, in combination with the draw-bar, coupling-jawsadapted to couple at their front ends, substantially as described, andto swing upwardly, for the purpose specified.

4. In acar-coupling, in combination with a draw-head, the jaws O O,constructed at their forward ends as described, and slotted where theyare pivoted to the draw-head, substantially as and for the purposespecified.

5. In a car-coupling, in combination with a draw-head having an enlargedfront end,with sides constructed substantially as described, slottedjaws O 0, adapted to slide forward on their pivot to said draw-head forthe purpose of securing themin place, and to slide rearward forreleasing them, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

6. In a car-coupling,in combination with the draw-head, slotted jawspivoted thereto, as described, springs e, arranged to operate therewith,substantially as and for the purpose specified.

7. In a car-coupling, in combination with jaws adapted to swingsubstantially as described, a rocking shaft adapted to swing the jaws invertical planes, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

' 8. In a car-coupling, in combination with draw-bar B and swinging jawsO O,-a rocksh aft, F, adapted to operate said swin gin g jaws,substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereofl affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES A. WALKER.

Witnesses HARRY M. RICHARDS, THOMAS MOKEE.

